I can't find my !^%#!@, man!
Posted on 08/13/2005 12:00:36 PM PDT by traumer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Derivatives of the active compound in cannabis -- cannabinoids -- may have the potential for treating inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, UK researchers report.
"The system that responds to cannabis in the brain is present and functioning in the lining of the gut," lead researcher Dr. Karen Wright, of the University of Bath, explained to Reuters Health. "There is an increased presence of one component of this system during inflammatory bowel diseases," she explained.
Wright and her colleagues established the location of cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 in human colon tissue, and used human colon cell lines to investigate the binding of cannabinoid compounds and in wound-healing experiments. They report their findings in the journal Gastroenterology
The team found that CB2 was increased in colonic tissue characteristic of inflammatory bowel disease. Cannabinoids enhanced surface wound closure via CB1-related mechanisms.
"Cannabinoids, which we make ourselves, as well as synthetic cannabinoids, can promote wound healing in the gut, which is extremely interesting given that inflammatory bowel disease involves damaged gut linings," Wright said.
Although results are available yet, she added, relevant studies of the use of cannabinoids are taking place in the UK and a clinical trial is being conducted in Germany.
true
What does the National MS Society say about smoking marijuana for the symptoms?
True. But as we've seen with Marinol® and nausea, smoking marijuana quickly becomes the "Poor Man's Marinol" for those who say either they can't afford it or that it works better (for them, of course) by smoking it.
I have no problem with the marijuana research going on (though why a pharmaceutical company would want to invest tens of millions in research just to have people use that information to lobby for smoking the drug is beyond me). As long as the resultant drug (as with Marinol®) is FDA approved and prescribed like any other medicine, with known side effects, drug interactions, recommended dosages, drug strength, etc.
I have MS, and what amazes me is that nobody seems too concerned with the "danger" involved in the interferon I "shoot up" every other day.
But let someone suggest that marijuana might help, and everybody starts talking about the side effects or how dangerous it might be, when in comparison to what is already prescribed for these conditions, marijuana has minimal side effects.
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I watched a documentary about a guy in the late stages of MS. He was incapable of walking. He would take an ecstacy tablet and could literally do headstands. I think if any kind of drug relieves pain or helps stop suffering then it should be used.
Here's their stand.
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sourcebook-Marijuana.asp
But you've got to follow the $$$ and know that the major pharmaceutical companies are contributors to the MS society.
I've never used MJ to relieve my spasticity or other MS related problems. The meds work for me, but my disease is stable.
I have spoken with folks in Canada who have thrown away all meds and just use MJ for relief. Their complaint about the new spray form that the Canadian government allows is that it's too strong. It get's them "high", whereas a small dose of the natural MJ doesn't.
Interesting for those who think that people want MJ to be approved as a med for their disease because they want to feel high.
Americans aren't illegal, they're controlled!
This is a pretty little Catch-22. First the government refuses all requests for permission to conduct valid medical studies of medicinal cannabis. The good doctor, whatever else his motives, is not likely to risk his livelihood to a possession bust, so no research is conducted at that level in this country. This allows chowderheads such as yourself to bray about "no legitinate medical research".
If there is a God, you will have the pleasure of losing half your body weight while on chemotherapy because "legitimate medical research" hasn't been able to prove what any teenage pot-head knows; marijuana gives you the munchies.
You are saying that I would be wrong if I located a weed in my yard and discovered that it cured Crohns and used it to save my sons life. Please tell me what existing medications cure Crohns. I am sure that the doctors that are treating my son would like to know. There is not much profit in yard weeds is there?
How do you determine legitimate medical research from illegitimate medical research?
Sure it would. Opiods (narcotics) are extremely effective for IBS and related disorders due to the high number of Mu receptors in the guts. Morphine derivates are actually the first line of treatment in the acute treatment of bowel disorders (especially diarreah) in third world countries.
Even Immodium AD sold over the counter her in the U.S. is an opiate. It is Demerol with a molecule removed to prevent most of it from crossing the blood-brain barrier.
If there are indeed cannaboid receptors in the bowel, then there is no reason to believe that an agonist for those receptors would not have some effect.
If someone wants to feel high, can't they just go to the local 7-11 and get a 6 pack?
God forbid we have open minds....
It's because they get it confused with IBS, I believe.
"But, I would be sure he would have the drug derived from pot if it was legal."
Thank you for understanding the difference. Would that other people on this thread were capable of such reasoning.
Your statement about 'addicts' is fine on its own. There are people with addiction problems. However, most users aren't. That is Mark's point.
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